Your guide to discovering the Cotswolds

Welcome to the Cotswolds, a very special, very wonderful place. A short break or even an extended holiday in the Cotswolds will leave you wanting more and you’ll be booking your next Cotswolds holiday as soon as you return home!

The Cotswolds covers a huge area – almost 800 square miles – and runs through five counties (Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire and Worcestershire). One of the delights of visiting the Cotswolds is exploring the different areas, each with its own identity, yet all with those defining Cotswold features: golden stone and rolling hills, the ‘wolds’.

Explore quintessentially English villages of honey-coloured stone; take in splendid, lively market towns; visit some of the country’s greatest palaces, castles and country houses; marvel at the natural world in acclaimed reserves and at some of the most famous arboretas in Britain; walk through breath-taking landscapes along historic trails; or make a splash in our own lake-land area with its own inland beach.

There’s a vibrant buzz in places like Cheltenham, Cirencester, Tewkesbury Stroud and Witney. And an arty heartbeat too – which extends to the wealth of festivals that are testimony to the creative vibe of the region.

The Cotswolds is also richly rural: more than 3,000 miles of footpaths and bridleways to explore; ancient woodlands and wildflower meadows; 4,000 miles of historic Cotswold stone walls dividing up the landscape.

Unsurprisingly this landscape provides a rich harvest of with local cheeses, meats and drinks appearing prominently on the menus of the gastro pubs, old inns, colourful cafes and fine dining restaurants scattered generously across the region.

The accommodation is just as wide ranging and welcoming: enjoy the finest of country house hotels, go chic and boutique, take a spa break, snuggle up in a charming B&B, put up a tent at a beautifully located campsite. Or opt for a place of your own: there’s a striking range of cottages and manor houses to rent.

From fabulous gardens to amazing shops, we could go on … but why not come and see for yourself?

Experience the very best of the Cotswolds, locate our hidden gems, and also find out what's new in our Cotswolds Tourism blog!

Historically known as "mother’s ruin", gin joined the retro resurgence and is now the sophisticated drink of choice. With flavour and provenance becoming ever more important, specialist gin bars and a renaissance in micro-distilleries gives gin connoisseurs an exciting choice. When it’s gin o’clock in the Cotswolds, you’ll certainly be spoilt for choice.

The Cotswolds offers some fabulous locations to treat yourself to the English tradition of afternoon tea. If winter days are chilly, warm up with an indulgent tea in front of a cosy log fire in one of the Cotswolds’ finest manor houses.